Saturday, May 30, 2009

I have a really fun package today--all from some companies I'd never seen until recently but who make some really cute things for kids.

First, there are Kimochis--these cute little plush guys that I'm hugging (isn't that butterfly adorable? The octopus is also completely cute).

They're not only soft and sweet but they're made for a child's development by helping them learn about feelings. You see the little pocket on the front? Each Kimochi is made to hold little pocket pals with different expressions of emotion on their face.

The one the company sent Lillian had a complete set of little happy/sad/angry/surprised figures and one that was blank (presumably for one's own unique feelings) which of course the boys grabbed with a war-whoop and would have really done a number on with their own macho graffiti if I hadn't intervened and liberated the plushy. Long live emoticons!

So Kimochis? Two thumbs up.

And next there is Little Stamp which had the great idea of making customized self-inking stamps for teaching children to print their names.

You can order the dashed-line names in either all capital letters or in standard print so kids can stamp their name and practice writing it till the cows come home. I can just imagine the fun a preschooler would have doing this.

They can be order in fancy fonts or standard block letters and in several different colors. What a great idea huh?

Two more thumbs way up. I'm running out of thumbs.

Anyway, today you can enter to win your choice of Kimochi (Go for the butterfly! Go for the butterfly!) and a learn-to-print stamp customized to your needs all by following the directions below. Thank you very much Kimochis and Little Stamp! Great giveaway!

Here's how to win:

Before 12 am Monday morning click here to reach the giveaway entry form then enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names at random, contact the winner via their email and publish the winner's first name and home town in next Tuesday's post. See the bottom of the entry form for more details.

How awesome! Love them both. Thank you so much for sharing. The grand kids would love this stuff. The Kimochi's would be great as we are working on feelings and how to express ourselves. The stamps are perfect for trying to teach them to write their names. I've been doing this all by hand (making the dashes for them to trace). The stamps would be so much easier. You are so wonderful for sharing what you find!

Thanks for pointing us to Little Stamps, Michelle! I clicked through the link and ended up experiencing some great customer service.

I was looking for a birthday gift idea for my niece, who will soon be 4. When I read your post I thought this was perfect, especially as she has an unusual name. I went to the website and found out that the maximum length for a name is 9 letters, but my niece's name is 10 letters.

I filled out the feedback form to tell them how disappointed I was and Lee-Ann e-mailed me back within an hour with samples showing how the name would look in either upper or lower case formats. Fortunately, the name contains an "i" and an "l", so it's not too scrunched on the stamp.

It was a no-brainer to go ahead and order the stamp with that great service, especially as there's free shipping at the moment!

When are you going to give away a Smokey Bear stuffed bear? I totally want to give one to my niece, and they're a bit pricey. ;)

I love the Kimochi...very cute. I'm hoping to win that for my little nephew.

My other niece is getting one of those topsy turvey dolls you were giving away a week or so ago, though I didn't win. I tried the independent toy stores around here, and none had them, so I'm going to go through your online retailer. Tell them Scribbit works as advertising!